Salt the propulsive new thriller from Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger Patriot Games) has been dubbed “Bourne with boobs ” but that label isn’t entirely accurate. In the role of Evelyn Salt a CIA staffer hunted by her own agency after a Russian defector fingers her in a plot to murder Russia’s president Angelina Jolie keeps her two most potent weapons holstered hidden under pantsuits and trenchcoats and the various other components of a super-spy wardrobe that proudly emphasizes function over flash.
But flash is one thing Salt never lacks for. Its breathless cat-and-mouse game hits full-throttle almost from the outset when a former KGB officer named Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) stumbles into a CIA interrogation room and begins spilling details of a vast conspiracy. Back in the ‘70s hardline elements of the Soviet regime launched an ambitious new front in the Cold War flooding the western world with orphans trained to infiltrate the security complexes of their adopted homelands and wait patiently — decades if necessary — for the order to initiate a series of assassinations intended to trigger a devastating nuclear clash between the superpowers from which the treacherous Reds would emerge triumphant.
The Soviet Union may have long ago collapsed (or did it? Hmmm...) but its army of brainwashed killer orphan spies remains in place and if this crazy Orlov fellow is to be believed they stand poised to reignite the Cold War. It’s a preposterous — even idiotic — scheme but no more so than any of our government’s various harebrained proposals to kill Castro back in the ‘60s. As such the CIA treats it with grave seriousness even the part that that pegs Salt who just happens to be a Russian-born orphan herself as a key player in the conspiracy.
Salt bristles at the accusation but suspecting a set-up she opts to flee rather than face interrogation from her bosses Winter (Liev Schreiber) and Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor). A former field agent she’s been confined to a desk job since a clandestine operation in North Korea went south leaving her with a nasty shiner and a rather unremarkable German boyfriend (now her unremarkable German husband). She’s clearly kept up her training during while cubicle-bound however and in a blaze of resourceful thinking and devastating Parkour Fu she fends off a dozen or so agents of questionable competence and takes to the streets where she sets about to clear her name and unravel the Commie orphan conspiracy before the authorities can catch up with her. That is if she isn’t a part of the conspiracy.
The premise which aims to resurrect Cold War tensions and graft them onto a modern-day spy thriller is absurdly clever — and cleverly absurd. But Kurt Wimmer’s screenplay isn’t satisfied with the merely clever and absurd — it must be mind-blowing. Salt is one of those thrillers that ladles out its backstory slowly and in tiny portions every once in a while dropping a revelatory bombshell that effectively blows the lid off everything that happened beforehand. No one is who they seem and every action every gesture no matter how seemingly trivial is imbued with some kind of grand significance. The effect of piling on one insane twist after another has the effect of gradually diluting the narrative. When anything is possible nothing really matters.
But spy thrillers by definition trade in the preposterous and the principal function of the summer blockbuster is to entertain. In that regard Salt more than fulfills its charge. Noyce wisely keeps the story moving at pace that allows little time for asking uncomfortable questions or poking holes in the film’s frail plot. And he has an able partner in the infinitely versatile Jolie who having already exhibited formidable action-hero chops in Wanted and the Tomb Raider films proves remarkably adept at the spy game as well.
It’s well-known that Jolie wasn’t the first choice to star in Salt joining the project only after Tom Cruise dropped out citing the story’s growing similarities to the Mission: Impossible films. But she’s more than just a capable replacement; she’s a welcome upgrade over Cruise not least because she’s over a decade younger (and a few inches taller) than her predecessor. Should Brad Bird require a pinch-hitter for Ethan Hunt he knows where to look.

The Charmed star announced her engagement to Dave Bulgari in December (08) and now U.S. tabloid reports suggest the loved-up pair will walk down the aisle on 15 August (09) in a ceremony at a private home in New Jersey.
Milano, who has been romantically linked to baseball stars Carl Pavano, Barry Zito and Brad Penny in recent years, has been dating Bulgari since 2007. It will be her second marriage.
The actress wed Cinjun Tate in 1999 but divorced him after just 11 months.

The standard biopic plotline based on the life story of Carl Brashear follows the uneducated sharecropper's son (Gooding) as he braves 1950s-era racial discrimination for the right to risk his life in one of the most dangerous occupations in the armed services. At the Navy's elite salvage school in New Jersey master diver Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) gives Brashear the "Officer and a Gentleman" treatment singling him out for special punishment at the request of the base's insane racist commander (Hal Holbrook). Will the hero overcome the obstacles in his path to becoming a master diver himself?
Gooding's glowing likability is the main factor keeping the film's saintly conception of Brashear from getting annoying fast. The one-dimensional character lacks a single flaw for an actor to grab onto but Gooding's enthusiasm is contagious (remember that Oscar speech?) and he gets surprising mileage out of it. De Niro's trademark intensity is put to only minimal use in a variation of the cantankerous drill sergeant part familiar from half the military flicks ever made.
George Tillman Jr. ("Soul Food") delivers some effective if obvious action-drama in the film's first half which chronicles Brashear's tireless efforts to earn his Navy flippers. Unfortunately Scott Marshall Smith's screenplay gets a bit water-logged dealing with the hero's subsequent career both above and below the waves. (One key development closely parallels John Wayne's role as a Navy flier in another true story 1957's "The Wings of Eagles.) All this sets up a particularly weak courtroom finale reminiscent of another slew of movies including "A Few Good Men" and "Rules of Engagement."

Top Story: Sopranos Frontrunners for Emmys
With three previous nominations and nothing to show for them, could this be the year HBO's critically acclaimed series The Sopranos finally gets its Emmy for best drama? Nominations for the 55th annual Emmy Awards will be announced Thursday and fortunately for the network, the mob drama is looking like an early frontrunner for television's highest honors. The Sopranos, which returned last season after a yearlong production hiatus with a fresh crop of episodes, faces stiff competition from NBC's three-time winner The West Wing; returning NBC nominee Law &amp; Order; Fox's espionage thriller 24; last year's most nominated show, HBO's funereal drama Six Feet Under; CBS' ratings hit CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and HBO's newcomer series The Wire.The 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Sept. 21 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and will be telecast on Fox.
Exorcist Settled at 11th Hour
Warner Bros. and Exorcist director William Friedkin and author William Blatty announced Monday they settled their lawsuit over profit participation--just one day before the trial was scheduled to begin in L.A. Superior Court. According to Variety, neither side disclosed any of the financial details of the settlement. The case revolved around Friedkin's and Blatty's profits on The Exorcist--The Version You've Never Seen. The duo claimed the studio breached its fiduciary duty by self-dealing the rights for a newer version of the film. They also claimed the studio would sell the rights to its sister cable TV networks TNT and TBS for little to no profit.
Diana Ross Breath Tests OK'd
A judge has ruled that results of breath tests taken during Diana Ross's arrest on suspicion of drunk driving Dec. 30 in Tucson, Ariz., are admissible as evidence in court, AP reports. Ross, 59, has pleaded innocent to the three DUI-related charges. Her lawyer was seeking to have the tests results thrown out on the grounds that police didn't have a search warrant and intimidated Ross into taking the test, but the judge denied the motion, saying the singer didn't look scared. Officers on the scene wrote in their report the singer was unable to walk a straight line and fell while trying to stand on one leg and count to 10.
Firm Offers IPO To Finance Film
Civilian Pictures Inc., an affiliate of Los Angeles-based Civilian Capital, plans an initial public offering of shares in a company whose sole purpose will be to produce a movie based on the novel Billy Dead, Reuters reports. The Los Angeles firm said on its Web site (http://www.civilian.com) it would offer 900,000 shares at $8.75 per share for Billy Dead Inc. Investors must purchase at least 100 shares. The company hopes to raise about $7.3 million to make the pic. Barry Poltermann, Civilian's founder and chief executive, says, "You should purchase shares only if you can afford a complete loss" since indie films are a risky venture.
ABC Gets Lesson in Reality
At the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Hollywood Monday, ABC executives said they walked away from the 2002-03 season with two valuable lessons: 1) don't move an established drama, and 2) reality TV is not a cure-all. ABC Entertainment Television Group chairman Lloyd Braun admitted that the network's decision to switch the hit legal drama The Practice from Sundays to Mondays not only ticked off the show's writer/producer David E. Kelley, but led to a plunge in the ratings (the series will be back at its 10 p.m. Sunday slot for the 2003-04 season). Braun also said the network learned from last spring's reality series Are You Hot?: The Search for America's Sexiest People that reality TV actually has to be good to make it. One show the alphabet net is revamping is the drama pilot 111 Gramercy Park, like an Upstairs, Downstairs set in New York's posh Upper West Side.
Will the Real Shady Please Stand Up?
Eminem is facing a lawsuit from a Nevada-based sports apparel company over the use of the name Shady Ltd. for the rapper's new clothing line, Launch.com reports. Shady Inc., which sells T-shirts and hats in Nevada stores and over the Internet, claims that they've been using the name, which they trademarked in 2001, for four years. The company filed a lawsuit in January in Nevada federal court after learning Eminem intended to launch a clothing line using the Shady name. Eminem, who is also known as Slim Shady, has since launched his Shady Ltd. clothing line in more than 400 stores.
Role Call: Betty Thomas Helms Smoker, Weaver Joins Woods
I Spy director Betty Thomas will helm The Smoker for Paramount Pictures. The pic, developed as a potential starring vehicle for Natalie Portman, is about a senior at a prestigious all-girls school who wants to arrange her own marriage--to her English teacher ... Sigourney Weaver joins Ashton Kutcher, Joaquin Phoenix and William Hurt in writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's The Woods ... Johnny Messner is in negotiations to star in Anacondas, a sequel to the 1997 horror-thriller Anaconda. Messner joins Morris Chestnut, Nicholas Gonzalez, Eugene Byrd, Salli Richardson, Kadee Strickland and newcomer Carl Yune in the film's cast.

Top Story
Major studios are loving their home video departments right about now. Variety reports DVD and VHS sales and rentals reached an all-time high of $20.3 billion in 2002--$12.1 billion sold, $8.2 billion rented. Warner Home Video (which also includes New Line Home Video) came in first, taking about 23.5 percent of home entertainment sales and rentals ($4.4 billion), with Disney Home Video (which includes Miramax and Dimension), coming in at No. 2 with 18.2 percent ($3.7 billion). Disney claimed top title in 2002, however, with Monsters, Inc. bringing in $384.8 million in DVD and VHS sales, with New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring coming in second at $380.1 million and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man third with $348 million. Combined with box office grosses, movie lovers spent more than $30 billion in entertainment in 2002, making the movie biz one of the only growth industries in an otherwise slow economy.
Celebs
Watch out, folks--Eminem is venturing into the rag trade. People.com reports the rapper, aka Marshall Mathers II, has signed a licensing deal with Nesi Apparel to create a sportswear label called "Shady," named after one of his other alter egos, Slim Shady. The collection should be in retail stores by late summer. How is this going to alleviate his recent lament, "I'm just getting too big for my own good"?
A man who stole 124 wedding rings in hopes of winning the heart of supermodel Claudia Schiffer was sent to a psychiatric clinic by a Berlin court Tuesday. It ruled the 32-year-old man was a danger to society after he held up a jewelry store Sept. 27 using a toy pistol and Halloween mask. Reuters reports the man told the court, "I was only thinking about Claudia Schiffer. I needed so many rings so that she could pick one out. Besides, I wasn't sure about her ring size." Well, that sounds like a valid point.
According to The Associated Press, Steven Seagal has filed a lawsuit against German landlord Edeltrud Vorderwuhlbecke, claiming the man has been trying to extort money from him to pay for alleged damages to a Berlin villa Seagal had rented from him in late 2001. According to AP the tough-guy actor says in the suit that he was not the one who damaged the property and has suffered "severe anxiety, emotional distress, humiliation and mortification," due to Vorderwuhlbecke's threats. Riiiight.
Variety reports Vivendi Universal exec Barry Diller has formally apologized to former 20th Century Fox owner Marvin Davis for derogatory remarks against the billionaire oilman at a recent media conference. Diller apparently referred to him as "fat Marvin Davis" and said "it would be a sad thing" if Davis were to take control of Vivendi Universal, for which he and a consortium of investors have bid $20 billion.
A Tennessee grand jury will decide the fate of country music singer Carlene Carter, daughter to country singers June Carter Cash and Carl Smith, who has been charged with stealing a dead man's identity to get prescription drugs. Carter was arrested Dec. 12 for taking the identity of her boyfriend, Francis Reidy III, who died in November, to get a prescription for the anti-depressant Zoloft.
Movies
Bruce Willis has signed on to play an amnesiac in the crime drama Me Again. Variety reports he'll play a man who wakes up in a hotel room with no memory and a dead body. Oops. He must figure out if he killed the guy or if he is the undercover cop assigned to take down the killer. Willis is currently wrapping the sequel The Whole Ten Yards.
The drug trade will be tackled yet again in a new movie called Rx. This time, however, the story revolves around the very legal but still complicated multibillion-dollar international pharmaceutical industry, examining the conflicts of saving lives while still making a lot of money. Laura Bickford, producer of the Oscar-winning movie Traffic, is developing the film, which has no cast or distributor yet.
Tube
Hip-hop singer Eve is making her first foray into television. The Grammy winning artist will hook up with UPN to develop and star as a New York fashion designer in a comedy being produced by Edmonds Entertainment. She recently co-starred in the feature films Barbershop and xXx.

Moviegoers were still panicking this weekend, keeping Panic Room number one with $18.5 million.
High Crimes kicked off on a high note in second place with $15 million. Ice Age was third, melting only 21 percent with $14.3 million.
The Rookie was rounding the bases fast, down just 26 percent with $11.7 million in fourth place. National Lampoon's Van Wilder was partying in fifth place with $7.5 million.
The weekend's only other wide release Big Trouble was a troubled eighth with $3.7 million.
With no $30 million-plus openings, key films -- those grossing $500,000 or more -- did well, but fell short of the spectacular totals they'd achieved over the past three weeks. This weekend's $107.8 million total was down 14.5 percent from the prior weekend's $126 million. It was, however, up 19.6 percent from last year's $90.2 million.
THE TOP TEN
Columbia's R rated thriller Panic Room held on to the top spot in its second week with a still thrilling ESTIMATED $18.5 million (-38%) at 3,053 theaters (theater count unchanged; $6,060 per theater). Its cume is approximately $58.8 million, heading for $100 million in domestic theaters.
Panic is only the third film this year to enjoy a second week in first place. The others were New Line's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which had two weeks atop the chart, and Revolution Studios and Columbia's Black Hawk Down, which reigned for three weeks.
Panic's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by David Fincher, it stars Jodie Foster.
"We're down only 38 percent, which certainly in today's world of 3,000 run openings is about as good as it's been in a while," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning.
Asked where it's going, Blake replied, "I've got to admit, with this kind of great holding second week we're very optimistic that we just might make $100 million. That would certainly be a very exciting result on a $48 million negative picture -- which looks like it has great worldwide possibilities, as well."
Why is Panic doing so well? "We got a really nice adult bump on Saturday," Blake explained. "We were down only 26 percent and up 38 percent from Friday. That indicated, as we hoped, that this picture is really going to get widespread adult support. It is a great adult evening out, which certainly helps give a picture legs. Adults, as we all know, are a little harder to get and, perhaps, don't rush out the first weekend as much as you'd like.
"We are happy with the result that we are appealing young and old. We got the young audience we needed to open the movie to $30 million, but it looks like the adults are coming through to keep it holding."
Business, in general, continues to be strong. "Buoyant," Blake observed. "You've got four double digit films on top of the standings. There's no question about it, it's a great market and we're happy to be on top of it."
The strong March and early April box office should help generate interest in this summer's films, whose trailers are playing in theaters now. "Attached on Panic Room is the Jennifer Lopez thriller Enough, which opens May 24," Blake said. "There's no question about (that helping), just as Panic Room was attached to Black Hawk Down. We tend to get a little determined about (playing) trailers. There's no better way to get a company on a roll and keep them there and that's certainly what we hope to be on this year."
20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises' PG-13 rated thriller High Crimes arrived in second place to an arresting ESTIMATED $15.02 million at 2,717 theaters ($5,526 per theater).
Directed by Carl Franklin, it stars Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman.
"We were hoping for $15 million," Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder said Sunday. "It's right where we'd like to be."
Asked who the film's audience was, Snyder replied, "58 percent female, 65 percent over 30. Adult female."
20th Century Fox's PG rated animated feature Ice Age fell one rung to third place in its fourth week with a still enviable ESTIMATED $14.32 million (-21%) at 3,200 theaters (-133 theaters; $4,473 per theater). Its cume is approximately $141.4 million, heading for $175 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Chris Wedge, it features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary.
"Audiences love it ," Fox's Bruce Snyder said. "It seems to withstand (competition as other) family movies have come in behind it and Rookie being a pretty strong movie, also. But, at the end of the day, they just like Ice Age. The characters are great. It's fun."
Buena Vista/Disney's G rated family appeal baseball drama The Rookie slid one slot to fourth place in its second week, holding very well with an ESTIMATED $11.7 million (-26%) at 2,524 theaters (+13 theaters; $4,647 per theater). Its cume is approximately $35.0 million.
Directed by John Lee Hancock, it stars Dennis Quaid.
Artisan Entertainment's opening of its R rated youth appeal comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder was celebrating in fifth place with an ESTIMATED $7.5 million at 2,022 theaters ($3,710 per theater).
Directed by Walt Becker, it stars Ryan Reynolds and Tara Reid.
"It's a very solid opening. We're very happy with it," Artisan domestic theatrical distribution president Steve Rothenberg said Sunday morning. "We did exit polls and it appears that people really liked the movie. It's a very funny comedy and we're very happy with the way the film opened.
"In the Top Two boxes we have 78 percent excellent and very good (which) is definitely above the norms. As far as definite recommend, we were at 70 percent and the norm is 45 percent. So we were above the norms on definite recommend, as well. That leads us to believe that we should have good word of mouth going into next week."
As for demographics, "it's about a 60-40 split male to female," Rothenberg said. "And the audience was almost entirely made up of 18-to-34 year olds, which is not surprising."
Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies' PG rated time travel adventure Clockstoppers dropped one peg to sixth place in its second week, showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $7.3 million (-28%) at 2,563 theaters (+23 theaters; $2,848 per theater). Its cume is approximately $22.5 million, heading for $40 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Jonathan Frakes, it stars Jesse Bradford, Paula Garces, French Stewart, Michael Biehn and Robin Thomas.
"A very nice hold, actually, coming off the Good Friday holiday last week (when many schools were closed)," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "We took a big hit on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday held up very well. Pictures of this genre have an extended life. You can play the matinees and weekends -- like Jimmy Neutron, it's still in a number of theaters playing matinees. We could be looking at $40 million on (Clockstoppers), I think, over its lifetime."
New Line Cinema's R rated vampire thriller Blade 2 fell three rungs to seventh place in its third week with a less scary ESTIMATED $7.18 million (-45%) at 2,561 theaters (-146 theaters; $2,802 per theater). Its cume is approximately $67.1 million, heading for $75 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, it stars Wesley Snipes.
Buena Vista/Touchstone's PG-13 rated comedy Big Trouble opened in eighth place to a troublesome ESTIMATED $3.7 million at 1,961 theaters ($1,865 per theater).
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, it stars Tim Allen, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Ben Foster, Janeane Garofalo, Jason Lee, Rene Russo, Tom Sizemore and Stanley Tucci.
Universal's 20th year anniversary reissue of its PG rated sci-fi fantasy drama E.T. fell three pegs to ninth place with a dull ESTIMATED $3.31 million (-46%) at 2,472 theaters (-535 theaters; $1,340 per theater). Its reissue cume is approximately $30.5 million.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, it stars Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas.
Rounding out the Top Ten was Universal, DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13 rated drama A Beautiful Mind--winner of four Oscars, including best picture -- down two notches in its 16th week with an okay ESTIMATED $2.76 million (-29%) at 1,451 theaters (-109 theaters; $1,905 per theater). Its cume is approximately $165.2 million.
Directed by Ron Howard, the Brian Grazer production stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival via Warner Bros. of The Saul Zaentz Company's Amadeus: Director's Cut reissue with an encouraging ESTIMATED $93,000 at 18 theaters ($5,152 per theater).
Directed by Milos Forman, produced by Saul Zaentz and written by Peter Shaffer, it stars F Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce and Elizabeth Berridge.
Sony Pictures Classics' R rated comedy Crush opened to a hopeful ESTIMATED $47,000 at 10 theaters ($4,697 per theater).
Written and directed by John McKay, it stars Andie MacDowell.
United Artists' reissue of The Last Waltz kicked off via MGM on the right foot at one theater in San Francisco with an ESTIMATED $16,000.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, Waltz is a musical documentary about the final concert of The Band.
Waltz waltzes into theaters in New York and Los Angeles Friday (Apr. 12).
Paramount and Miramax's PG-13 rated comedy Lucky Break arrived to an unlucky ESTIMATED $8,000 at 6 theaters ($1,338 per theater).
Directed by Peter Cattaneo, it stars James Nesbitt and Olivia Williams.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front this weekend Lions Gate Films' R rated drama Monster's Ball went wider in its 15th week following Halle Berry's best actress Oscar victory with an okay ESTIMATED $1.56 million at 713 theaters (+37 theaters; $2,185 per theater). Its cume is approximately $25.3 million.
Directed by Marc Forster, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and Peter Boyle.
IFC Films' unrated erotic drama Y Tu Mama Tambien went wider in its fourth week with a still arousing ESTIMATED $1.1 million at 179 theaters (+128 theaters; $6,145 per theater). Its cume is approximately $2.9 million.
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, it stars Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.
Fox Searchlight Pictures' R rated romantic comedy Kissing Jessica Stein expanded in its fourth week to a still tempting ESTIMATED $1.01 million (+40%) at 319 theaters (+188 theaters; $3,150 per theater). Its cume is approximately $3.3 million.
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, it stars Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen.
"Jessica's done well," Fox Searchlight distribution president Stephen Gilula said Sunday morning. "We had a nice fourth weekend. We expanded to 319 theaters this week. We were pretty much across the country. It's a very successful limited release for us and we expect to be playing for quite a few more weeks because particularly in the cities that we've been open in for four weeks -- New York and L.A. and Chicago and Boston and so forth -- it's held extremely well.
"It's playing very, very well. The recent markets have opened up not as proportionally strong, but very solid. So we're very pleased with how it's playing across the country."
Asked where it's heading, Gilula replied that while it's still early to say for sure, "I think that we are certainly going to get to $6-or-$7 million, but each week tells us a little more of the story. We expect to be playing through the spring."
USA Films' R rated romantic comedy Monsoon Wedding added theaters in its seventh week with a still tasteful ESTIMATED $0.72 million (-10%) at 150 theaters (+10 theaters; $4,765 per theater). Its cume is approximately $5.3 million.
Directed by Mira Nair, it was produced by Nair and Caroline Baron.
INTERNATIONAL
Universal's international division reported Sunday morning that E.T. opened in 28 countries last weekend and has grossed $12 million to date.
The studio said E.T. is performing very well in Latin America, especially in Mexico where it ranked third in its second weekend. While results from Europe were mixed last weekend, midweek grosses there were strong thanks to school holidays.
E.T. arrives in Asia this week. It opens in Japan April 27.
Ali G Inda House, Universal's latest film from Working Title, is performing solidly in the U.K., grossing $11.3 million in 16 days on 394 playdates.
A Beautiful Mind, a Universal DreamWorks co-production that is being distributed by UIP for DreamWorks, got a big boost from winning four Oscars including Best Picture and has been up at the box office for the past two weeks.
Mind, which has been in release internationally for seven weeks, is still number one in Argentina. This weekend it ranked second in Brazil, third in Australia and Germany, fourth in Spain, fifth in Mexico and seventh in the U.K.
This weekend, Mind cracks $100 million at the international box office.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $107.8 million, up about 19.57 percent from last year when they totaled $90.15 million.
Key films this weekend were down about 14.45 percent from the previous weekend of this year's total of $126.0 million.
Last year, Dimension Films' second week of Spy Kids was first with $17.08 million at 3,133 theaters ($5,451 per theater); and Paramount's opening week of Along Came A Spider was second with $16.71 million at 2,530 theaters ($6,606 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $33.8 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $33.5 million.

Post-Sept. 11, will audiences derive much humor from the ordered shooting down of a small civilian airliner?
That's the huge stumbling block facing director Barry Sonnenfeld's Big Trouble, a black comedy based on the best-selling novel by humorist Dave Barry.
Touchstone wisely yanked Big Trouble from its Sept. 21 release following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. The Miami-set ensemble farce, headlined by Tim Allen and Rene Russo, revolves around a nuclear bomb that ends up in the grubby hands of unsuspecting smalltime crooks Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville.
Seven months later, though, Big Trouble remains a risky prospect. Its tricky final act--decidedly unfunny pre- and post-Sept. 11--will certainly alienate audiences in the wake of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon attacks.
Not that Big Trouble has much going for it to begin with, considering it is unsurprisingly flat and visually unexciting for a comedy from the director of The Addams Family and Men In Black. Big Trouble's meager laughs come from the nefarious antics of harried co-stars Stanley Tucci and Dennis Farina and Barry's dead-on observations about life in southern Florida.
Accordingly, Big Trouble will likely earn less than half of the $12.7 million that Sonnenfeld's last crime caper, the cool-as-ice Get Shorty, opened with in 1995.
That's bad news for the major principals involved.
Sonnenfeld is coming off the overblown Wild Wild West, which earned a disappointing $113.8 million for a high-priced Will Smith vehicle. No one paid much attention to Allen's Joe Somebody ($22.7 million). The lights are fading fast on Russo's Showtime, the Robert De Niro/Eddie Murphy cop comedy that has made a lousy $34.4 million through Wednesday.
Don't feel too bad, though. Sonnenfeld should bounce back this summer with Men In Black II. Allen has The Santa Clause 2: Mrs. Clause scheduled for Nov. 8.
With Big Trouble unlikely to cause much of a stir, High Crimes should emerge as the top choice among this weekend's new release.
A military courtroom thriller directed by One False Move's Carl Franklin, High Crimes reunites Kiss the Girls stars Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd. Law professor Judd enlists Freeman to help her defend her husband, Jim Caviezel, on trial for his alleged role in a mass killing in El Salvador.
Audiences seem to like Judd better when she's fighting off serial killers and murderous husbands. Kiss the Girls earned $60.5 million, while Double Jeopardy became a $116.7 million smash. Judd's subsequent forays into drama (Where the Heart Is, $33.7 million) and comedy (Someone Like You, $27.3 million) aroused little interest, in comparison.
Freeman reprised his role as Alex Cross in last year's Kiss the Girls prequel, Along Came a Spider, which managed to make $74 million even without Judd's presence.
High Crimes arrives without much fanfare, considering it pairs Freeman with Judd. It also doesn't help that High Crimes is sandwiched between two other thrillers featuring tough women, Jodie Foster's Panic Room and Sandra Bullock's Murder By Numbers, due April 19. That could result in High Crimes struggling to match Kiss the Girls' $13.2 million opening.
What value does the National Lampoon moniker have these days?
Not much, given that the name's been attached to nothing but groan-inducing cable fodder for the past decade. Remember Dad's Week Off? Or Golf Punks? Didn't think so.
Recent theatrical releases, such as Loaded Weapon 1 ($27.9 million) and Senior Trip ($4.6 million), failed to enjoy the popularity of Animal House or the Vacation series. (Oddly, 1997's Vegas Vacation hit theaters minus the National Lampoon label.)
Now comes National Lampoon's Van Wilder, or Van Wilder: Party Liaison, as it was known before National Lampoon slapped its name on the delayed college comedy. Two Guys and a Girl's Ryan Reynolds plays a popular student facing graduation after seven wild years in college.
Saddled with an R rating, National Lampoon's Van Wilder arrives in theaters at a time when restricted teen-oriented fare falls harder than a freshman after a kegger. The most recent victim: Sorority Boys, with $8 million through Sunday.
Serving as a lure for American Pie lovers, Tara Reid is no insurance policy as a reporter out to nail Reynolds. Her recent flops include Body Shots ($699,964), Dr. T and the Women ($13 million), Just Visiting ($4.7 million) and Josie and the Pussycats ($14.2 million).
The National Lampoon label might pique the curiosity of Animal House fans, plus attract vacationing college students, resulting in a possible $8 million to $10 million opening for National Lampoon's Van Wilder. But this slacker won't reverse the flagging film fortunes of the once-mighty comedy empire. Expect a fast fade before hitting $20 million total.
Without stiff competition, Panic Room should retain its box office crown.
The cat-and-mouse thriller debuted last weekend with $30.1 million, a record opening for both Jodie Foster (previous best: Contact's $20.5 million) and director David Fincher (previous best: Alien 3's $23.1 million).
By reaching $38.1 million through Wednesday, Panic Room surpassed the $37 million that Fincher's last film, Fight Club, made during its entire run. Panic Room, which could enjoy a second weekend tally of $20 million, looks set this weekend to become Fincher's biggest hit since Seven if it passes Alien 3's $54.9 million and The Game's $48.2 million.
Panic Room will also erase memories of Foster's disappointing Anna and the King, which grossed a less-than-royal $39.2 million in 1999. Panic Room is a long shot to become Foster's biggest hit--The Silence of the Lambs, at $130.7 million, holds that distinction-but it could outshine Maverick ($101.6 million) and Contact ($100.9 million).
Robin Williams' first attempt to reinvent himself as a bad guy backfired with Death to Smoochy.
The black comedy, featuring Williams as a disgraced kids TV entertainer out to kill his replacement, opened with a cheerless $4.3 million. That's a little better than Jakob the Liar, which debuted in 1999 with an abysmal $2 million, en route to a $4.9 million total. But it's a far cry from the dizzying heights of Patch Adams ($25.2 million) or The Birdcage ($18.2 million).
With $5.3 million through Wednesday, Death to Smoochy follows the failures of Jakob the Liar and Bicentennial Man. This disastrous debut won't cause too much of a headache for Insomnia, featuring Williams as a murder suspect, because it is a thriller headlined by Al Pacino. But it might prove problematic for One Hour Photo, a drama starring Williams as an obsessed photo lab technician.
Death to Smoochy also ranks as the weakest opener for a film directed by Danny DeVito (previous low: Hoffa's $6.4 million).
Dennis Quaid knows how it feels to flounder at the box office. He's endured a string of flops--including Innerspace, Great Balls of Fire, Everybody's All-American and SwitchBack--that relied heavily on his considerable charms. The Rookie, however, could be his first no-hitter.
The uplifting baseball drama, with Quaid portraying high-school science teacher-turned-Tampa Bay Devil Rays pitcher, turned in career-high $16 million opening for Quaid.
The Rookie fared well in comparison with another G-rated Disney sports bio, Remember the Titans, which opened in 2000 with $20.9 million. The high-school football drama ended its run by scoring a $115.6 million touchdown.
Buoyed by sterling reviews, The Rookie has $21.6 million through Wednesday. Quaid could enjoy a hit on the scale of $60 million to $70 million.
Time didn't exactly grind to a halt for Clockstoppers. The teen-targeted adventure, helmed by Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes, opened with an OK $10.1 million. With $14.1 million through Wednesday, Clockstoppers will likely wind up with about $30 million.
Clockstoppers did cause The Time Machine to blow a gasket. The much-maligned updating of the H.G. Wells classic novel crashed 57 percent in its fourth weekend, from $5.3 million to $2.2 million. Its total through Sunday: $52.6 million.
Slaying mutated vampires took its toll on Wesley Snipes. After a stunning $32.5 million debut, Blade 2 fell 60 percent in its second weekend to $13.5 million. That's about typical for a horror yarn that isn't likely to become a cultural phenomenon a la The Sixth Sense or The Others. The same happened with Bram Stoker's Dracula, which dropped 51 percent in its second weekend from $30.2 million to $15 million.
With $59.1 million through Wednesday, Blade 2 will easily outpace its predecessor's $70.1 million and end up with a little more than the $82.4 million lapped up by Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Resident Evil also took a nasty tumble, falling 56 percent in its third weekend from $6.7 million to $2.9 million. The video-game adaptation has $35.1 million through Tuesday.
The war is almost over for Mel Gibson's We Were Soldiers. The bloody Vietnam epic took in $3.7 million in its fifth weekend, down an acceptable 35 percent from $5.7 million, for a total of $68.7 million through Wednesday. We Were Soldiers should match Braveheart's $75.5 million total.
The Oscars kept A Beautiful Mind swirling. The John Forbes Nash Jr. biography dropped a mere 5 percent the weekend after winning four Oscars, including Best Picture, from $4 million to $3.8 million. A Beautiful Mind has $162 million through Wednesday.
Last weekend saw two milestones at the box office.
Ice Age became the first new 2002 release to crack $100 million. With $124.9 million in its first 20 days, Ice Age is running behind both Monsters, Inc. ($163.7 million) and Shrek ($156.4 million) but stands a grand chance of cracking $175 million before confronting a deluge of would-be summer blockbusters.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring battled its way to $301.3 million. The addition of footage from the upcoming The Two Towers allowed Peter Jackson's saga to enjoy a 15th weekend take of $2.3 million, or a 1 percent increase in business from the previous weekend. It ranks as No. 11 on the list of the U.S. top grossers, just behind Independence Day ($306.1 million).
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial moved closer to displacing Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace as No. 3 on the list of U.S. top grossers. The Steven Spielberg classic has $426.3 million through Wednesday, with $26.5 million generated via its 20th anniversary reissue. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial could pass Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace's $431 million by Sunday or Monday. Looks like the reissue will give our favorite alien enough loose change to make another phone call home.